#they're so soothing to me and bittersweet because s7 said yeah they would actually work but jughead would mess it up

[riverdale-retread]

Why is "Veronica's Husband" the best version of Jughead?

Ahhh a Jeronica ask!

Because of the way they're set up, Jughead and Veronica contain within themselves the thing that will heal the other from their childhood difficulties.

Jughead has a lot of pain from being abandoned, the not-first-choice, the not-wanted, the betrayed one who has to forgive, repeatedly. He aspires to be on the inside, to be in the good life, and that keeps not working because those are things you can't just break into on your own if you weren't born there. He has guts and creativity, so he will start down the path, but to sustain the long term effort, all of us need support and cheerleading and, if you're raised with relative deprivation, you will also need guidance. Jughead, having had to fend entirely for himself, as well as keeping his devastating solitariness to himself as a secret for so long, keeps saying "I'll figure it out, I always do" and that's kind of the key to why he keeps failing. He doesn't know how to ask for or receive help, because every time he tried to get that he got even more fucked over.

Veronica has resources, both personal and material, and most importantly, she loves investing those resources in people she loves. Veronica dreams big, believes big, and wants her people to all achieve big things. She's loyal, and once she decides to commit she commits. She's also a consummate networker, a bringer-together-of-people which a very underdeveloped skill for Jughead. Veronica loves being a part of a squad or a team of two, so you know, if you want to be the Veronica Lodge's husband she would keep goosing things along so that both boats can rise together.

The thing is - now that I've gotten this far - I actually think that Tabitha does this for Jughead quite a bit, without the careerist bent. Tabitha has ambitions but they aren't of the Get Yourself Written Up In Wall Beat Journal variety. She's stable, has a very strong loving influence in her grandfather but enough difficulties with her own parents that Jughead can feel identity and says herself that she's very attracted to underdogs. So that's why Jabitha works.

But the question was The Best version of Jughead, and yeah, Veronica would've gotten him there.